State's road toll dips to its lowest on record

Jason Dowling

VICTORIA has achieved its lowest road toll on record with a big drop in fatalities in the past 12 months.

Last night the official toll stood at 304, down 8 per cent on the previous year and well below the 2003 record low of 330.

Despite a booming population and more vehicles on the roads, Victoria's road toll has fallen dramatically since 1970, when 1061 people were killed.

Despite the falling toll, the State Government and police will hold a media conference this morning to hammer home the road safety message.

"Every life lost on our roads is one too many," Roads Minister Tim Pallas said. "We all must continue to work hard to keep Victorians safe on our roads."

One of the biggest areas of success in the 2008 fight against road deaths was young drivers.

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Fatalities among Victoria's newest drivers, those aged 18 to 20, dropped 11 per cent to 28 killed — the lowest number recorded since the 1950s.

"It is a good result because they are the group who are on their P plates," said David Healy, senior manager of road safety at the Transport Accident Commission. "We know they operate at three to four times the risk per kilometre compared to their more experienced counterparts."

Mr Healy said the new graduated licensing system was based on the experience of young drivers "so as they build their skills they are confronted with more complex driving situations that match their skills".

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The news for pedestrians was not so bright, with almost one in five people killed on the roads in 2008 a pedestrian.

Pedestrian fatalities were up 41 per cent to 58, compared with 41 in 2007.

The RACV's Brian Negus said while the drop in the road toll was encouraging, it was still not good enough.

"While we need to congratulate everyone that the road toll did reduce, we need to press even harder for 2009," Mr Negus said.

"We need to target the key problem areas of drink-driving, speed, especially on country roads, and fatigue."

Assistant Commissioner Ken Lay said although the 2008 road toll result was commendable, it "still means there have been more than 300 people needlessly killed on our roads".

He said many of the deaths were caused by mistakes that could have been avoided.

"All too often, ordinary people, often kids, are dying because they have been a bit thoughtless," he said. "They are dead for no other reason than perhaps not wearing a seatbelt or running a red light.

"From today, the road toll count starts all over.

"The unfortunate reality is that if some people do not change their behaviour then they will simply not be around to see in 2010."

State Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the 2008 road toll figure was "great news for a lot of families who will be enjoying the company of loved ones who at another time may have been a road statistic".